Prior to the climate conference COP29, FriEnt hosted a workshop together with International Alert to reflect on the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace – looking towards opportunities at COP29 and beyond.

On 3 December 2023, Peace Day at COP28, for the first time, the Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace (CRRP) enabled a system-wide conversation and agreement on the ambitious steps that are needed to advance climate finance and action in fragile and conflict-affected settings. In October 2024, a workshop convened by FriEnt and International Alert gave space to participants from the climate, humanitarian, development and peace sectors to reflect from different perspectives on the strengths and still needed improvements of the Declaration. At the same time, the participants were looking towards opportunities at COP29. This piece is a reflection of that workshop.

The Declaration is a promising and necessary first step for the nexus of climate, peace, and security. It enabled new conversations across silos and created space for actors to advance internal and external progress through endorsement – using the Declaration as a policy vehicle while testing language in a non-binding manner. It is a multilateral policy document with credibility among policy-makers. It raised awareness throughout the HDP-Climate nexus and prompted collaboration.

However, the Declaration can still be improved. Despite its silo-busting approach, awareness has largely remained limited to a very small segment of the climate sector. It has not gained widespread recognition outside the climate, peace, and security “bubble.” Moreover, though the goals are positive and ambitious, there is no accountability platform or mechanism to demand progress updates on commitments from the Parties to the Declaration. To remedy these fallbacks, here some recommendations for future action:

1. Awareness and Cooperation: Increase awareness about the opportunities for collaboration across sectors the Declaration presents.
2. Translation into Policies: Encourage donor governments and funds to convert the Declaration’s principles into actionable policies.
3. Integration into Negotiations: Ensure that the COP28 CRRP Declaration language and recommendations are included in official negotiation processes in the future.
4. Action Plans and Indicators: Develop a systematic approach to track commitments made under the Declaration.
5. Conflict Sensitivity Safeguards: Incorporate conflict sensitive safeguards into the Global Goal on Adaptation, the New Global Finance Goals (NCQG), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
6. Targeted Funding: Allocate earmarked funding for fragile and conflict-affected areas, ensuring flexible funding mechanisms for regions lacking government control through alternative governance structures.
7. Learning Mechanisms: Promote learning from conflict sensitive approaches across sectors.
8. Advocacy for Fossil Fuel Phase-Out: Strengthen advocacy efforts for a direct phase-out of fossil fuels, as part of the COP28 CRRP Declaration advocacy efforts of peace, humanitarian, and development actors.

Looking towards COP29, there were a range of initiatives organised by both the COP29 Presidency and the international community. Individuals and institutions that focused on peace and conflict sensitivity followed the announcements and initiatives of the Presidency closely – including the forthcoming Baku Call and Baku Hub. Some actors are championing a set of principles for operationalising the COP28 CRRP Declaration – aiming for wide endorsement by governments, agencies, institutions, and organisations at all levels of the international system. And other actors closely monitored the NCQG calling for specific language on fragile and conflict-affected settings. There are, of course, a number of challenges for peace-related work at COP, ranging from contemporary geopolitics and armed conflict to COP-specific global dynamics of injustice and its own packed agenda.

At the same time, the field has reaffirmed its interest in creating new opportunities for peace and conflict sensitivity. Many, though not all, of these efforts were coordinated in a free, open collective called Peace@COP29. Peace@COP29 is a working group of the Community of Practice on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace (ECCP), a global professional network with more than 900 members. To amplify their communications, the community worked to pull together a set of common policy recommendations and compiled a list of peace-related side events and activities on their website for cross-pollination and movement building. They coordinated a collaborative communications campaign for 15 November’s Day on Peace, Recovery, and Relief to raise awareness of the opportunities for peace and conflict sensitivity within the UNFCCC. The working group is open to the public and free to join, with no membership obligations.

There are many opportunities beyond COP29; we must keep one eye on the horizon. After COP29, we continue to meet and advance the peace agenda at COP30 as well as explore benchmarks and accountability for the COP28 CRRP Declaration.

Regardless of how we coordinate across sectors, it is imperative that we create and drive forward collaborative, inclusive, and intentional processes. Successful implementation of the Paris Agreement will only be possible with a peace responsive and conflict sensitive approach – and we all have a role to play in creating the reality we urgently need.